Search Filtering

ABSTRACT

Apparatus, systems and methods for search filtering are disclosed. A search instance associated with a user device is identified, and a determination is made as to whether the search instance includes a filtering term. If the search instance is determined to include a filtering term, then filtered content items in the search instance are identified, and the filtered content items and access to a verification service that provides access approval or access denial for unfiltered content items in the search instance are provided to the user device. Conversely, if the search instance is determine not to include a filtering term, then the unfiltered content items are provided to the user device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of and claims priority toU.S. application Ser. No. 11/847,114, filed Aug. 29, 2007, entitled“Search Filtering,” and which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,032,527 on Oct.4, 2011, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND

This document relates to search filtering.

The rise of the Internet has enabled access to a wide variety of contentitems, e.g., video and/or audio files, web pages for particularsubjects, news articles, etc. Content items of particular interest to auser can be identified by a search engine in response to a user query.One example search engine is the Google search engine provided byGoogle, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., U.S.A. The query can include oneor more search terms, and the search engine can identify and,optionally, rank the content items based on the search terms in thequery and present the content items to the user (e.g., according to therank).

The content items that are identified in response to a query may includematerial that is inappropriate for a particular user. For example, ajuvenile may (intentionally or unintentionally) enter a query that willreturn adult-oriented content, and a search engine may identify materialthat is both appropriate and inappropriate for the juvenile. Variousconventional processes have been developed to help prevent the servingof inappropriate content to particular users. For example, some searchengines can require that a user provide verification data to averification service upon detecting a search instance that includesinappropriate content. For example, a search engine can require that auser provide age verification data to an age verification service upondetecting a query that includes a “black-listed” search term or searchresults that include adult-oriented content. If the user's age cannot beverified, search results are not presented to the user.

Such a verification process, however, can degrade the user experience.For example, a user may not be interested in the adult-oriented contentper se, but may instead be interested in journal articles studying theeffects of such content on society, e.g., the societal effects ofpornography on young women. A query directed to this particularinterest, however, may include one or more black-listed terms or resultin the identification of web sites that are inappropriate for some,e.g., juvenile, users. Accordingly, if the user is a juvenile, the usermay not be able to access content that is appropriate for the user.Conversely, if the user is an adult, but the age verification service isnot available, the user may not be able to access the content ofinterest.

SUMMARY

Apparatus, systems and methods for search filtering are disclosed. Inone implementation, a query is received from a user device and adetermination as to whether the query includes or is associated with afilter term is made. If the query is determined to include or beassociated with (e.g., similar to, synonymous with, etc.) a filteringterm, then filtered content items based on the query and the filteringterm are identified and the filtered content items and access to averification service that provides access approval or access denial forunfiltered content items that are responsive to the query are providedto the user device.

In another implementation, a query is received from a user device, andunfiltered content items in an information corpus that are responsive tothe query are identified. A determination is made as to whether theunfiltered content items that are responsive to the query include or areassociated with a filtering term. If the unfiltered content items thatare responsive to the query include or are associated with the filteringterm, then the unfiltered content items are filtered based on thefiltering term to generate filtered content items. The filtered contentitems and access to a verification service that provides access approvalor access denial for the unfiltered content items are provided to theuser device.

In another implementation, a search instance associated with a userdevice is identified, and a determination is made as to whether thesearch instance includes or is associated with a filtering term. If thesearch instance is determined to include or be associated with afiltering term, then filtered content items in the search instance areidentified, and the filtered content items and access to a verificationservice that provides access approval or access denial for unfilteredcontent items in the search instance are provided to the user device.Conversely, if the search instance is determine not to include afiltering term, then the unfiltered content items are provided to theuser device.

In another implementation, a system includes search access instructionsand verification service access instructions. The search accessinstructions are stored in a computer readable medium and upon executionby a processing device configure the processing device to identify asearch instance associated with a user device and determine if thesearch instance includes or is associated with a filtering term. Inresponse to determining that the search instance includes or isassociated with a filtering term, the processing device can identifyfiltered content items in the search instance and provide the filteredcontent items to the user device. Conversely, in response to determiningthat the search instance does not include or is not associated with afiltering term, the processing device can identify unfiltered contentitems in the search instance and provide the unfiltered content item tothe user device. The verification service access instructions are storedin a computer readable medium and upon execution by a processing deviceconfigure the processing device to provide the user device access to averification service in response to the processing device executing thesearch access instructions determining that the search instance includesa filtering term.

The details of one or more embodiments of the subject matter describedin this specification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and thedescription below. Other features, aspects, and advantages of thesubject matter will become apparent from the description, the drawings,and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example search filtering system.

FIG. 2 is an example search entry environment.

FIG. 3 is an example filtered search results environment.

FIG. 4 is an example verification service access environment.

FIG. 5 is an example unfiltered search results environment.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an example search filtering process.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of another example search filtering process.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of another example search filtering process.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of an example session classification process.

Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicatelike elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example search filtering system 100. Inan implementation, a search access engine 102 can access a data store offiltering terms 104 and a search engine 106. In some implementations,the search access engine 102 and the data store of filtering terms 104can be instantiations that are separate from the search engine 106. Inother implementations, the search access engine 102, the data store offiltering terms 104, and the search engine 108 can be an integratedinstantiation, as indicated by the dashed line 108.

The search access engine 102 and the search engine 106 can beimplemented in one or more networked server computers, e.g., a serverfarm. The search engine 106 can be configured to access and processinformation corpora 110, e.g., thousands or even millions of contentitems, e.g., web-based documents, such as web pages, audio files, videofiles, image files, data files, blogs, etc. In some implementations, theinformation corpora 106 can be implemented as cached data stores thatstore web documents retrieved over the Internet and that are indexed bythe search engine 106 to facilitate searching, identification andretrieval operations.

Such searching, identification and retrieval operations can occur inresponse to a query 120 including one or more query terms QT from a userdevice 122. Example user devices include personal computers, portablecommunication devices, set top boxes, or any other computer deviceoperable to communicate data input by a user over a network, such as theInternet.

In response to the one or more query terms 120, the search engine 106can identify one or more unfiltered content items (UCI) 124. Theunfiltered content items 124 can be provided to the user device in theform or search results. Example search results include landing pagelinks, e.g., uniform resource locators (URL) that are resolved to websites that provide access to a content item. Selection of the landingpage link will thus direct a software application running on the userdevice 102, e.g., a web browser, to the web site so that the user device102 can access the content item.

Absent any monitoring of a search instance 130, e.g., monitoring of theone or more query terms 120 and/or the unfiltered content items 124, theunfiltered content items 124 will be provided to the user device 122. Asdescribed above, however, the unfiltered content items 124 that areidentified in response to query terms 120 may include material that isinappropriate for a particular user. Thus, in some implementations, thesearch access engine 102 is configured to identify the search instance130 associated with the user device 122 and determine if the searchinstance 130 includes or is associated with (e.g., related or synonymousor otherwise associated terms; flagged as a content item of particularcontent; etc.) one or more filtering terms 104. The filtering terms 104can, for example, include a list of terms that are associated withparticular subject matter, e.g., adult-oriented content, expletiveinfused content, racially insensitive content, or other material that isdesired to be filtered. If the search access engine 102 determines thatthe search instance 130 does not include any of the filtering terms 104,as indicated by the search instance case 132, then the search accessengine 102 can provide the unfiltered content items 124 to the userdevice 122 (or allow the unfiltered content items 124 to be provided tothe user device 122).

Conversely, if the search access engine 102 determines that the searchinstance 130 includes or is associate with one or more filtering terms,e.g., filtering term 104 a as indicated by the search instance case 134,then filtered content items (FCI) 126 are identified and provided to theuser device 122. In some implementations, the filtered content items 126are a subset of the unfiltered content items 124, and the unfilteredcontent items are content items that are identified in the informationcorpora 110 for the search instance 130. Additionally, verificationservice access (VSA) instructions 140 are provided by the user device122. Upon execution by the user device 122, the verification serviceaccess instructions 140 provide the user device access to a verificationservice 142. The user of the user device 122 can thus access theverification service 142 to provide verification data.

The verification service 142 can, in response to the verification data(e.g., age verification data, membership verification data, etc.),provide access approval (AA) 144 or access denial (AD) 146 forunfiltered content items 124 that are responsive to the query 120. Forexample, if the verification service 142 is an age verification service,the user may be required to provide unique identification data, e.g., aname and a unique identification number that can be compared to an ageverification database. If the verification data provided indicates theuser is of the appropriate age (e.g., the age of majority), then theverification service 142 can provide access approval 144 to the searchaccess engine 106. The search access engine 106 can, in turn, providethe unfiltered content items 124 to the user device 122 (or allow theunfiltered content items to be provided to the user device 122).Otherwise, the search access engine 106 can preclude the provisioning ofthe unfiltered content items 124 to the user device 122.

In some implementations, the verification service access instructions142 can comprises be a link to a verification service 142 landing pageat which the user may provide verification data directly to theverification service 142. In other implementations, the verificationservice access instructions 142 can be a user identification data inputinterface, e.g., editable data fields through which a user may provideverification data, and the search access engine 102 can forward theverification data to the verification service 142.

The processing of a single search instance has been described. However,users may often submit multiple queries during a session. In someimplementations, the search access engine 102 can instantiate a userdevice session, as illustrated by the dashed line 150, and classify thedevice session as either an approved device session in response toreceiving access approval from the verification service 142, or as adenied device session in response to receiving access denial from theverification service 142. Thereafter, the search access engine 102 canautomatically provide unfiltered content items 124 to the user device122 for device sessions that are classified as approved device sessions,and only provide filtered content items 126 to the user device 122 fordevice sessions that are classified as approved device sessions. Theestablishment of such a device session can eliminate or minimize thenumber of times a user must provide verification data to theverification service 142, thus improving the user experience.

The device session can be established in a variety of ways. For example,the search access engine 102 can store a temporary data file, such as acookie, associated with the user device 102 that is either stored at theuser device 102 or on a server device on which the search access engine102 is instantiated. Alternatively, the device session can beestablished by logging into a user account associated with the user.Other ways of establishing and maintaining a device session can also beused.

The determination of whether a search instance 130 includes a filteringterm 104 can be implemented by various processes. In someimplementations, a search instance 130 can be a query, e.g., the query120, received from the user device 122. The query 120 can be compared tothe filtering terms 104 to determine whether the query 120 includes oris associated with a filtering term. In one implementation, the query120 can be segmented into query components, e.g., words, and compared toa keyword hash map of “black-listed” and “white-listed” terms todetermine whether the query includes a filtering term 104. For example,a black-listed term may include the constituent component AA followed bythe constituent component BB. However, a white-listed term may includethe constituent component AA, followed by the constituent component BB,and followed by the constituent component CC. An example hash map couldbe as follows in a Level/Component/Status format:

-   -   1/AA/WL 2/BB/BL 3/CC/WL 4/NULL/NULL 3/EE/BL 4/NULL/NULL 2/FF/BL        3/NULL/NULL        where “WL” indicates a while-listed term and “BL” indicates a        “black-listed” term, i.e., a filtering term. In some        implementations, queries that are not represented by the hash        map can be deemed a white-listed term. Thus, if the query is        “AADD,” or AABBDD”, the query is determined to not include a        filtering term.

In some implementations, a filtering term in a query 120 cannevertheless be allowable if the filtering term is used in an approvedcontext. For example, the word “nude” alone may be deemed to be afiltering term 104; however, the term “nude expression” may be deemed tonot be a filtering term, as the term “nude” in the context of“expression” may be related to a free speech subject. Thus, the querycan be determined to include the filtering term if the query context ofthe filtering term is not an approved query context, or can bedetermined to not include the filtering term if the query context of thefiltering term is an approved context.

In some implementations, if the query 120 includes a filtering term, thesearch access engine 102 can generate a revised query based on thefiltering term and provide the revised query to the search engine 106 toinitiate a search of the information corpora 110 for content items thatare responsive to the revised query. These content items that areresponsive to the revised query can be identified as the filteredcontent items 126. Upon receiving an access approval 144, the searchaccess engine 102 can provide the original query 120 to the searchengine 106 to initiate a search for unfiltered content items, e.g.,content items that are responsive to the original query. Examples ofgenerating revised queries can include removing the filtering term fromthe query, or generating a negative Boolean term based on the filteringterm. Other methods to generate a revised query can also be used.

In some implementations, if the query 120 includes a filtering term, thesearch access engine 102 can provide the query 120 to the search engine106 to initiate a search for unfiltered content items, e.g., contentitems that are responsive to the query 120. The unfiltered content items124 can thereafter be filtered by the filtering term 104 to exclude thecontent items that include the filtering term, and the resultingnon-excluded content items can be identified as the filtered contentitems 126. Alternatively, the request sent to the search engine 106 canbe filtered prior to submission to the search engine 106.

In some implementations, a search instance 130 can be the unfilteredcontent items 124 identified in response to the query 120. The searchaccess engine 102 can determine whether the unfiltered content items 124include a filtering term, and filter the unfiltered content items 124based on any identified filtering term to generate the filtered contentitems 126. For example, the unfiltered content items 124 can beprocessed by the search access engine 102 to identify any filteringterms 104 present in the unfiltered content items 124. Those unfilteredcontent items 124 that do not include filtering terms 104 can beidentified as filtered content items 126 and be provided the user device122. Upon receiving an access approval 144, the search access engine 102can provide the entire set of unfiltered content items 124 to the userdevice 122.

FIG. 2 is an example search entry environment 200. The search entryenvironment 200 can be a web page associated with the search engine 106or the search access engine 102. A query entry box 202 can be used toenter one or more query terms, e.g., QT1, QT2, and QT3. A search button204 can be selected to submit the query terms to the search engine 106to search of content items of a specified type 206, e.g., “Web Pages,”that are response to the query terms. Pressing the search button 204 cancause the search accesses engine 102 to receive the query terms QT1, QT2and QT3. Depending on the implementation, the search access engine 102can determine if the query terms QT1, QT2 and QT3 include a filteringterm or if the unfiltered content items 124 identified in theinformation corpora 110 in response to the query terms QT1, QT2 and QT3include a filtering term and take the corresponding processing stepsdescribed above.

FIG. 3 is an example filtered search results environment 300. Thefiltered search results environment 300 can be a web page associatedwith the search engine 106 or the search access engine 102. A query termbox 302 displays the user entered query terms QT1, QT2 and QT3, and averification alert box 304 informs the user that the approximately 229unfiltered content items including content items that are inappropriatefor certain users, e.g., minors, have been identified. Accordingly, aportion of a list 306 of approximately 300 filtered content items aredisplayed. The verification alert box 302 includes a link 308 that theuser may select to gain access to a verification service, e.g., an ageverification service.

FIG. 4 is an example verification service access environment 400. Theverification service access environment 400 can be a web page associatedwith the search engine 106 or the search access engine 102, and can beaccessed by selecting the link 308 in the filtered search resultsenvironment 300. One or more user identification data input interfaces,e.g., data entry interfaces 402 and 404, can be presented to the user.Additionally, a link 406 to the filtered search results environment 300can also be provided.

The first data entry interface 402 can request identification data forany user and provide the identification data provided by the user to theverification service 142. If the verification service 142 responds withan access approval, an unfiltered search results environment 500 can beprovided to the user device. Conversely, if the verification service 142responds with an access denial, only the filtered content items 126 areprovided to the user device 122.

The second data entry interface 404 can user login data for a useraccount. The user account can, for example, be maintained by the searchaccess engine 102 or by some other entity. Each user account can includeage verification data for a particular user, and can also include dataindicating whether the verification service 142 has provided accessapproval or access denial for that user. Thus, if a user logs into anaccount that includes data indicating that the verification service 142has provided access approval for that user, then an unfiltered searchresults environment 500 can be provided to the user device. Conversely,if a user logs into an account that includes data indicating that theverification service 142 has not provided access approval for that user,then only filtered search results environment 500 can be provided to theuser device. In some implementations, logging into a user account caninstantiate a device session that is classified according to the accessapproval data or access denial data stored in the user profile.

FIG. 5 is an example unfiltered search results environment 500. Theunfiltered search results environment 500 can be a web page associatedwith the search engine 106 or the search access engine 102. A portion ofa list 504 of approximately 529 unfiltered content items is displayed.The list 504 thus includes all of the unfiltered content items 124 thatare responsive to the query terms QT1, QT2 and QT3.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an example search filtering process 600. Theprocess 600 can, for example, be implemented in the search filteringsystem 100 of FIG. 1.

Stage 602 identifies a search instance associated with a user device.For example, the search access engine 102 can identify a searchinstance, e.g., a query form the user device 122 or a list of searchresults responsive to a query from the user device 122.

Stage 604 determines if a search instance includes or is associated witha filtering term. For example, the search access engine 102 candetermine if a search instance includes a filtering term as describedabove, e.g., by determining whether a query includes a filtering term;or whether the unfiltered content items include a filtering term; orwhether a content item is flagged with a particular filtering term,e.g., classified as an adult-oriented web site, etc.

If stage 604 determines that the search instance does not include or isnot associated with a filtering term, then stage 606 provides theunfiltered content items to the user device. For example, the searchaccess engine 102 can provide the unfiltered content items to the userdevice 122 (or allow the unfiltered content items to be provided to theuser device 122).

If stage 604 determines that the search instance does include afiltering term, then stage 608 identifies filtered content items in thesearch instance. For example, the search access engine 102 can identifyfiltering terms in the query or can identify content items that includeor are associated with a filtering term. These content items can beexcluded from the search results, and the non-excluded content items canbe identified as the filtered content items.

Stage 610 provides the filtered content items to the user device. Forexample, the search access engine 102 can provide the filtered contentitems to the user device 122 (or allow the filtered content items to beprovided to the user device 122).

Stage 612 provides the user device access to a verification service thatprovides access approval or access denial to unfiltered content items inthe search instance. For example, the search access engine 102 canprovide verification access instructions 140, e.g., a landing page link,a user identification data input interface, etc. to the user device 122.

Stage 614 determines if access approval is received from theverification service. For example, the search access engine 102 canprocess data received from the verification service 142 to determinewhether access approval or access denial has been received.

If stage 614 determines that access approval is received fromverification service, then the process proceeds to stage 606, whichprovides the unfiltered content items to the user device. For example,the search access engine 102 can provide the unfiltered content items tothe user device 122 (or allow the unfiltered content items to beprovided to the user device 122).

If stage 614 determines that access approval is not received from theverification service, then stage 616 precludes the provisioning of theunfiltered content items to the user device. For example, the searchaccess engine 102 will the only provide the filtered content items tothe user device 122 (or allow the filtered content items to be providedto the user device 122).

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of another example search filtering process700. The process 700 can, for example, be implemented in the searchfiltering system 100 of FIG. 1.

Stage 702 receives a query from a user device. For example, the searchaccess engine can receive a query from the user device 122.

Stage 704 determines if the query includes or is associated with afiltering term. For example, the search access engine can compare thequery to a list of filtering terms 104.

If state 704 determines the query does not include or is not associatedwith a filtering term, then stage 706 provides the unfiltered contentitems to the user device. For example, the search access engine 102 canprovide the unfiltered content items to the user device 122 (or allowthe unfiltered content items to be provided to the user device 122).

If stage 704 determines that the query includes or is associated with afiltering term, then stage 708 identifies filtered content items basedon the query and the filtering term. For example, the search accessengine 102 can modify a query to remove the filtering term, or revisethe query, or can filter the content items that include the filteringterm to exclude content items that are, in part, responsive to thefiltering term. The non-excluded content items or content itemsresponsive to the revised query can be identified as the filteredcontent items.

Stage 710 provides the filtered content items to the user device. Forexample, the search access engine 102 can provide the filtered contentitems to the user device 122 (or allow the filtered content items to beprovided to the user device 122).

Stage 712 provides the user device access to a verification service thatprovides access approval or access denial to unfiltered content itemsthat are responsive to or associated with the query term. For example,the search access engine 102 can provide verification accessinstructions 140, e.g., a landing page link, a user identification datainput interface, etc. to the user device 122.

Stage 714 determines if access approval is received from theverification service. For example, the search access engine 102 canprocess data received from the verification service 142 to determinewhether access approval or access denial has been received.

If stage 714 determines that access approval is received fromverification service, then the process proceeds to stage 706, whichprovides the unfiltered content items to the user device. For example,the search access engine 102 can provide the unfiltered content items tothe user device 122 (or allow the unfiltered content items to beprovided to the user device 122).

If stage 714 determines that access approval is not received from theverification service, then stage 716 precludes the provisioning of theunfiltered content items to the user device. For example, the searchaccess engine 102 will only provide the filtered content items to theuser device 122 (or allow the filtered content items to be provided tothe user device 122).

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of another example search filtering process800. The process 800 can, for example, be implemented in the searchfiltering system 100 of FIG. 1.

Stage 802 receives a query from a user device. For example, the searchaccess engine can receive a query from the user device 122.

Stage 804 identifies unfiltered content items that are responsive to thequery in an information corpus. For example, the search access engine102 can provide the query to the search engine 106 to initiate a searchof the information corpora 110 for content items that are responsive tothe query. The responsive content items are identified as unfilteredcontent items.

Stage 806 determines if the unfiltered content items include or areassociated with a filtering term. For example, the search access engine102 can identify unfiltered content items that include a filtering term.

If stage 806 determines that the unfiltered content items do not includeor are not associated with a filtering term, then stage 808 provides theunfiltered content items to the user device. For example, the searchaccess engine 102 can provide the unfiltered content items to the userdevice 122 (or allow the unfiltered content items to be provided to theuser device 122).

If stage 806 determines that the unfiltered content items do include afiltering term, then stage 810 filters the unfiltered content items togenerate filtered content items. For example, the search access engine102 can identify unfiltered content items that include a filtering term.These unfiltered content items can be excluded from the search results,and the non-excluded unfiltered content items can be identified as thefiltered content items.

Stage 812 provides the filtered content items to the user device. Forexample, the search access engine 102 can provide the filtered contentitems to the user device 122 (or allow the filtered content items to beprovided to the user device 122).

Stage 814 provides the user device access to a verification service thatprovides access approval or access denial to unfiltered content itemsthat are responsive to the query term. For example, the search accessengine 102 can provide verification access instructions 140, e.g., alanding page link, a user identification data input interface, etc. tothe user device 122.

Stage 816 determines if access approval is received from theverification service. For example, the search access engine 102 canprocess data received from the verification service 142 to determinewhether access approval or access denial has been received.

If stage 816 determines that access approval is received fromverification service, then the process proceeds to stage 808, whichprovides the unfiltered content items to the user device. For example,the search access engine 102 can provide the unfiltered content items tothe user device 122 (or allow the unfiltered content items to beprovided to the user device 122).

If stage 816 determines that access approval is not received from theverification service, then stage 818 precludes the provisioning of theunfiltered content items to the user device. For example, the searchaccess engine 102 will only provide the filtered content items to theuser device 122 (or allow the filtered content items to be provided tothe user device 122).

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of an example session classification process900. The process 900 can, for example, be implemented in the searchfiltering system 100 of FIG. 1.

Stage 902 instantiates a device session for the user device. Forexample, the search access engine 102 can process and establish a userlogin to a user account from the user device 122.

Stage 904 classifies the device session according to receiving accessapproval or access denial from a verification service. For example, thesearch access engine 102 can classify the device session as an approvedsession if the user account to which the user device 122 is logged intoincludes data indicating access approval for the user associated withthe account. Likewise, the search access engine 102 can classify thedevice session as a denied session if the user account to which the userdevice 122 is logged into includes data indicating access denial for theuser associated with the account.

Stage 906 provides the unfiltered content items or the filtered contentitems to the user device depending on the device session classification.For example, the search access engine 102 can automatically provideunfiltered content items to a device with a device session classified asan approved session. Likewise, the search access engine 102 canautomatically preclude unfiltered content items being delivered to adevice with a device session classified as a denied session.

Embodiments of the subject matter and the functional operationsdescribed in this specification can be implemented in digital electroniccircuitry, or in computer software, firmware, or hardware, including thestructures disclosed in this specification and their structuralequivalents, or in combinations of one or more of them. Embodiments ofthe subject matter described in this specification can be implemented asone or more computer program products, i.e., one or more modules ofcomputer program instructions encoded on a tangible program carrier forexecution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus.The tangible program carrier can be a propagated signal or a computerreadable medium. The propagated signal is an artificially generatedsignal, e.g., a machine generated electrical, optical, orelectromagnetic signal, that is generated to encode information fortransmission to suitable receiver apparatus for execution by a computer.The computer readable medium can be a machine readable storage device, amachine readable storage substrate, a memory device, a composition ofmatter effecting a machine readable propagated signal, or a combinationof one or more of them.

The term “data processing apparatus” encompasses all apparatus, devices,and machines for processing data, including by way of example aprogrammable processor, a computer, or multiple processors or computers.The apparatus can include, in addition to hardware, code that creates anexecution environment for the computer program in question, e.g., codethat constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a databasemanagement system, an operating system, or a combination of one or moreof them.

A computer program (also known as a program, software, softwareapplication, script, or code) can be written in any form of programminglanguage, including compiled or interpreted languages, or declarative orprocedural languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as astand alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unitsuitable for use in a computing environment. A computer program does notnecessarily correspond to a file in a file system. A program can bestored in a portion of a file that holds other programs or data (e.g.,one or more scripts stored in a markup language document), in a singlefile dedicated to the program in question, or in multiple coordinatedfiles (e.g., files that store one or more modules, sub programs, orportions of code). A computer program can be deployed to be executed onone computer or on multiple computers that are located at one site ordistributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communicationnetwork.

Additionally, the logic flows and structure block diagrams described inthis patent document, which describe particular methods and/orcorresponding acts in support of steps and corresponding functions insupport of disclosed structural means, may also be utilized to implementcorresponding software structures and algorithms, and equivalentsthereof. The processes and logic flows described in this specificationcan be performed by one or more programmable processors executing one ormore computer programs to perform functions by operating on input dataand generating output. The processes and logic flows can also beperformed by, and apparatus can also be implemented as, special purposelogic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or anASIC (application specific integrated circuit).

Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, byway of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, andany one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. Generally, aprocessor will receive instructions and data from a read only memory ora random access memory or both. The essential elements of a computer area processor for performing instructions and one or more memory devicesfor storing instructions and data. Generally, a computer will alsoinclude, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer datato, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g.,magnetic, magneto optical disks, or optical disks. However, a computerneed not have such devices. Moreover, a computer can be embedded inanother device, e.g., a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant(PDA), a mobile audio or video player, a game console, a GlobalPositioning System (GPS) receiver, to name just a few.

Computer readable media suitable for storing computer programinstructions and data include all forms of non volatile memory, mediaand memory devices, including by way of example semiconductor memorydevices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks,e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks; magneto optical disks; andCD ROM and DVD ROM disks. The processor and the memory can besupplemented by, or incorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.

To provide for interaction with a user, embodiments of the subjectmatter described in this specification can be implemented on a computerhaving a display device, e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquidcrystal display) monitor, for displaying information to the user and akeyboard and a pointing device, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by whichthe user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices canbe used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example,feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g.,visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input fromthe user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, ortactile input.

Embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification can beimplemented in a computing system that includes a back end component,e.g., as a data server, or that includes a middleware component, e.g.,an application server, or that includes a front end component, e.g., aclient computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browserthrough which a user can interact with an implementation of the subjectmatter described is this specification, or any combination of one ormore such back end, middleware, or front end components. The componentsof the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digitaldata communication, e.g., a communication network. Examples ofcommunication networks include a local area network (“LAN”) and a widearea network (“WAN”), e.g., the Internet.

The computing system can include clients and servers. A client andserver are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship of client and serverarises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client server relationship to each other.

While this specification contains many specific implementation details,these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of anyinvention or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions offeatures that may be specific to particular embodiments of particularinventions. Certain features that are described in this specification inthe context of separate embodiments can also be implemented incombination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features thatare described in the context of a single embodiment can also beimplemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitablesubcombination. Moreover, although features may be described above asacting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, oneor more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excisedfrom the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to asubcombination or variation of a subcombination.

Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particularorder, this should not be understood as requiring that such operationsbe performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, orthat all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirableresults. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processingmay be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various systemcomponents in the embodiments described above should not be understoodas requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should beunderstood that the described program components and systems cangenerally be integrated together in a single software product orpackaged into multiple software products.

Particular embodiments of the subject matter described in thisspecification have been described. Other embodiments are within thescope of the following claims. For example, the actions recited in theclaims can be performed in a different order and still achieve desirableresults. As one example, the processes depicted in the accompanyingfigures do not necessarily require the particular order shown, orsequential order, to achieve desirable results. In certainimplementations, multitasking and parallel processing may beadvantageous.

1. A computer implemented method, comprising: receiving a query from auser device; identifying content items that are responsive to the queryas unfiltered content items; determining that the query includes afiltering term and in response to the determination: identifyingfiltered content items based on the query and the filtering term;providing search results for the filtered content items to the userdevice, each search result referencing a filtered content item;providing the user device access to a verification service that providesaccess approval or access denial for search results for the unfilteredcontent items that are responsive to the query, determining whetheraccess approval or access denial is received from the verificationservice in response to user identification data provided to theverification service; if access approval is received from theverification service, then providing search results for the unfilteredcontent items to the user device; and if access denial is received fromthe verification service, then precluding the provisioning of searchresults for the unfiltered content items to the user device.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein providing the user device access to averification service comprises providing a link to an age verificationservice landing page.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein providing theuser device access to a verification service comprises providing a useridentification data input interface to the user device.
 4. The method ofclaim 3, further comprising: providing user identification data receivedfrom the user device through the user identification data inputinterface to the verification service.
 5. The method of claim 4, furthercomprising: instantiating a device session for the user device;classifying the device session as an approved device session in responseto receiving access approval from the verification service; andautomatically providing the unfiltered content items to the user devicefor the duration of the device session.
 6. The method of claim 5,wherein instantiating a device session for the user device comprisesverifying a user login to a user account from the user device.
 7. Themethod of claim 6, wherein classifying the device session as an approveddevice session in response to receiving access approval from theverification service comprises: associating the user account with accessapproval; and automatically classifying the device session as anapproved device session upon each subsequent verification of the userlogin.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying filtered contentitems based on the query and the filtering term comprises: initiating asearch of an information corpus for content items that are responsive tothe query; identifying the content items the are responsive to the queryas the unfiltered content items; filtering the content items the areresponsive to the query by the filtering term to exclude some of thecontent items that are responsive to the query; and identifying thenon-excluded content items as the filtered content items.
 9. The methodof claim 1, wherein identifying filtered content items based on thequery and the filtering term comprises: generating a revised query basedon the filtering term; initiating a search of an information corpus forcontent items that are responsive to the revised query; and identifyingthe content items that are responsive to the revised query as thefiltered content items.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein generating arevised query based on the filtering term comprises removing thefiltering term from the query when the query includes the filtering termand one or more other terms that are not filtering terms.
 11. The methodof claim 9, wherein generating a revised query based on the filteringterm comprises generating a negative Boolean term based on the filteringterm.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the queryincludes a filtering term comprises: comparing the query to a list offiltering terms; and determining that the query includes one or more ofthe filtering terms in response to a match to at least one of thefiltering terms to query terms of the query.
 13. The method of claim 12,wherein determining that the query includes a filtering term comprises:determining a query context of the filtering term; and determining thatthe query includes the filtering term if the query context of thefiltering term is not an approved query context.
 14. A system,comprising: a data processing apparatus; and instructions stored in acomputer readable storage system accessible by the data processingapparatus and executable by the data processing apparatus that upon suchexecution cause the data processing apparatus to perform operationscomprising: receiving a query from a user device; identifying contentitems that are responsive to the query as unfiltered content items;determining that the query includes a filtering term and in response tothe determination: identifying filtered content items based on the queryand the filtering term; providing search results for the filteredcontent items to the user device, each search result referencing afiltered content item; providing the user device access to averification service that provides access approval or access denial forsearch results for the unfiltered content items that are responsive tothe query, determining whether access approval or access denial isreceived from the verification service in response to useridentification data provided to the verification service; if accessapproval is received from the verification service, then providingsearch results for the unfiltered content items to the user device; andif access denial is received from the verification service, thenprecluding the provisioning of search results for the unfiltered contentitems to the user device.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein providingthe user device access to a verification service comprises providing alink to an age verification service landing page.
 16. The system ofclaim 14, wherein providing the user device access to a verificationservice comprises providing a user identification data input interfaceto the user device.
 17. The system of claim 16, wherein the instructionscause the data processing apparatus to perform operations furthercomprising: providing user identification data received from the userdevice through the user identification data input interface to theverification service.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein theinstructions cause the data processing apparatus to perform operationsfurther comprising: instantiating a device session for the user device;classifying the device session as an approved device session in responseto receiving access approval from the verification service; andautomatically providing the unfiltered content items to the user devicefor the duration of the device session.
 19. The system of claim 18,wherein instantiating a device session for the user device comprisesverifying a user login to a user account from the user device.
 20. Thesystem of claim 19, wherein classifying the device session as anapproved device session in response to receiving access approval fromthe verification service comprises: associating the user account withaccess approval; and automatically classifying the device session as anapproved device session upon each subsequent verification of the userlogin.
 21. The system of claim 14, wherein identifying filtered contentitems based on the query and the filtering term comprises: initiating asearch of an information corpus for content items that are responsive tothe query; identifying the content items the are responsive to the queryas the unfiltered content items; filtering the content items the areresponsive to the query by the filtering term to exclude some of thecontent items that are responsive to the query; and identifying thenon-excluded content items as the filtered content items.
 22. The systemof claim 14, wherein identifying filtered content items based on thequery and the filtering term comprises: generating a revised query basedon the filtering term; initiating a search of an information corpus forcontent items that are responsive to the revised query; and identifyingthe content items that are responsive to the revised query as thefiltered content items.
 23. The system of claim 22, wherein generating arevised query based on the filtering term comprises removing thefiltering term from the query when the query includes the filtering termand one or more other terms that are not filtering terms.
 24. The systemof claim 22, wherein generating a revised query based on the filteringterm comprises generating a negative Boolean term based on the filteringterm.
 25. The system of claim 14, wherein determining whether the queryincludes a filtering term comprises: comparing the query to a list offiltering terms; and determining that the query includes one or more ofthe filtering terms in response to a match to at least one of thefiltering terms to query terms of the query.
 26. The system of claim 25,wherein determining that the query includes a filtering term comprises:determining a query context of the filtering term; and determining thatthe query includes the filtering term if the query context of thefiltering term is not an approved query context.
 27. Software stored ina computer readable medium storage system and storing instructionsexecutable by a data processing apparatus that upon such execution causethe data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:receiving a query from a user device; identifying content items that areresponsive to the query as unfiltered content items; determining thatthe query includes a filtering term and in response to thedetermination: identifying filtered content items based on the query andthe filtering term; providing search results for the filtered contentitems to the user device, each search result referencing a filteredcontent item; providing the user device access to a verification servicethat provides access approval or access denial for search results forthe unfiltered content items that are responsive to the query,determining whether access approval or access denial is received fromthe verification service in response to user identification dataprovided to the verification service; if access approval is receivedfrom the verification service, then providing search results for theunfiltered content items to the user device; and if access denial isreceived from the verification service, then precluding the provisioningof search results for the unfiltered content items to the user device.28. The software of claim 27, wherein providing the user device accessto a verification service comprises providing a link to an ageverification service landing page.
 29. The software of claim 27, whereinproviding the user device access to a verification service comprisesproviding a user identification data input interface to the user device.30. The software of claim 29, wherein the instructions cause the dataprocessing apparatus to perform operations further comprising: providinguser identification data received from the user device through the useridentification data input interface to the verification service.
 31. Thesoftware of claim 30, wherein the instructions cause the data processingapparatus to perform operations further comprising: instantiating adevice session for the user device; classifying the device session as anapproved device session in response to receiving access approval fromthe verification service; and automatically providing the unfilteredcontent items to the user device for the duration of the device session.32. The software of claim 31, wherein instantiating a device session forthe user device comprises verifying a user login to a user account fromthe user device.
 33. The software of claim 32, wherein classifying thedevice session as an approved device session in response to receivingaccess approval from the verification service comprises: associating theuser account with access approval; and automatically classifying thedevice session as an approved device session upon each subsequentverification of the user login.
 34. The software of claim 28, whereinidentifying filtered content items based on the query and the filteringterm comprises: initiating a search of an information corpus for contentitems that are responsive to the query; identifying the content itemsthe are responsive to the query as the unfiltered content items;filtering the content items the are responsive to the query by thefiltering term to exclude some of the content items that are responsiveto the query; and identifying the non-excluded content items as thefiltered content items.
 35. The software of claim 28, whereinidentifying filtered content items based on the query and the filteringterm comprises: generating a revised query based on the filtering term;initiating a search of an information corpus for content items that areresponsive to the revised query; and identifying the content items thatare responsive to the revised query as the filtered content items. 36.The software of claim 35, wherein generating a revised query based onthe filtering term comprises removing the filtering term from the querywhen the query includes the filtering term and one or more other termsthat are not filtering terms.
 37. The software of claim 35, whereingenerating a revised query based on the filtering term comprisesgenerating a negative Boolean term based on the filtering term.
 38. Thesoftware of claim 28, wherein determining whether the query includes afiltering term comprises: comparing the query to a list of filteringterms; and determining that the query includes one or more of thefiltering terms in response to a match to at least one of the filteringterms to query terms of the query.
 39. The software of claim 38, whereindetermining that the query includes a filtering term comprises:determining a query context of the filtering term; and determining thatthe query includes the filtering term if the query context of thefiltering term is not an approved query context.